Many businesses have been refusing cash for years (e.g., Hertz, Amazon), and the practice has been upheld in the courts. The law about "all debts public and private" relates to the government, not to any business obligation. Several/. forums have already beaten this to death. The only reason refusal of cash is not more widespread is that credit card companies charges are so high most businesses enjoy the extra margin of a cash transaction. However, MasterCard and Visa both show that cash transaction are more costly than credit cards due to the handling costs (including 'shrinkage'). I bet that 99% of the value of all retail transactions will soon be electronic.
If you believe that every system has flaws, then you might be able to see when it may fail. For example, the income tax system has always been ham handed. Those who understood it well enough could always slip between the regulations to avoid some or all of it. In the early days, about 90 years ago, most people ignored them. In the 1940s, they passed payroll withholding and started collecting from those who were employed by others.
When most of the revenues were coming from a large "middle class" the system worked because it was easier to pay the government than to pay a tax attorney to find the cracks. People who were really rich could still afford to pay tax attorneys to minimize or limit their taxes, but it was a relatively small percentage of federal income tax revenues.
But as wealth began to concentrate, an industry of bright financial and legal professionals flourished, allowing more income to be shielded from the IRS. The rich, who got richer, weighed the cost of the tax verses the cost of testing the tax avoidance in tax court and decided the best return was "playing in the gray." The IRS has no choice but to go to tax court when someone challenges them. They do not have enough people to fight every rich person or company. Often, the well-paid lawyers of the taxpayers are better versed on the law than the civil servant IRS lawyers. As the rich get richer, they influence tax laws to gain a greater advantage. Eventually you have a society of people who are either too poor to pay much tax or a few too rich to need to pay tax. That is when the tax system fails. Frankly, no tax system can succeed when the money is too closely held by a few.
They never mentioned the price. HP might decide to charge a lot of money for this technology, which could make it impractical in many applications. That could effectively screw it up until the patents expire.
Babies can see further into the UV than adults, probably due to the gradual yellowing of the cornea, which usually becomes apparent in old age. Water reflects UV to varying degrees, too.
Home schooling has proven the marginal value of institutionalized instruction. Many schools, such as MIT, are putting their entire courseware online. The only brick-and-mortar universities that will survive are the ones who emphasize their alumni networks for getting students jobs.
Unless we are planning to stage nuclear weapons in space, the government is not really suited for the ongoing business of exploration. Such endeavor entails risks, both financial and human. The public will not tolerate it politically. Private enterprise, particularly corporate, is designed for this. A company knows how to quantify a human life and weigh it against the commercial gain. It may seem ruthless because it is ruthless. Space exploration by humans is not for the faint of heart or weak of will. Of course, in thirty years it will be obvious that machines are more capable than people and less costly in every way. Our ingenuity will obsolete our role in space.
There are two kinds of people in this world -- people who are worth suing and people who aren't. I assume that most SlashDotters fall into the latter category and flame on about it out of jealousy. They should have faith, however, that someday they will hit it big and, YES, get the shit sued out of them. Then they will know that they have arrived . . . in court.
Hardwire them to a central consciousness and eliminate their free will, then command them to . . . do, uh, what? I don't know, that's why we hired them, isn't it? Not sure. Perhaps if we hire a consultant . . .
I love those lab glasses on her. And those gloves, OMG! She gives new meaning to 'are gone'. I got a 'D' in organic chemistry back when some fossil taught it to the tune of my snoring. If she had been my prof, I would have aced it for sure. I could just see my CdSe nanoparticles forming covalent bonds with her hydrophobic lipids.
OMG, this is one cynical crowd, and self-righteous, too. The best way to never get caught is to never do anything that you would not want to be caught doing. If that moral lesson isn't obvious, then I think I caught you. The lesson still holds. Even if you are forgiven and acquitted and saved and redeemed, you still were caught. That indelible mark is a great reason to confess once you have made the mistake of doing something that you regret. If you are caught instead of revealing yourself, you always have the doubt hanging over you that your contrition was forced and possibly insincere by being caught. If I caught some of you missing those obvious points, then I forgive you. Before you rail against me, I must confess that I thought my first message was obvious. Naive me.
This is very true. Prescription drugs have risen dramatically. Drugs that sold for $1-$3 per pill now sell for up to $30. Drug companies are milking them until they fall off patent. Hearing aids are only by prescription, which means the doctors have a oligopoly on them and charge as much as they can. Their sales pitch, "What is being able to hear worth to you?"
Just wait until you need cataract surgery or a new hip or a kidney. You might live, but you might not have anything left to live on..
Throughout human history, it has always been easier to kill someone with a new invention than to save someone. This may be the next generation of biological weapons.
I remember a movie about an alien spaceship that is forced to land in a small town and gets the populous to repair it in their sleep. They were all very productive, much more than in their day jobs. One person couldn't be used because he had a metal plate in his head. Anyone remember the name of it?
Guy: Hey, you're new here. iPhone: Yeah, that's right. Guy: Could I sell you to iGadget for a million dollars? iPhone: Oh, well, yes! Guy: How about ten dollars. iPhone: How dare you! What kind of iPhone do you think I am? Guy: We already established that, now we're just talkin' price.
Slashdot Mirror
This quarter, actually. It makes sense if you think about it.
Could anyone think of a better way to defeat an omnipotent enemy than causing it to go Stasi on itself?
See http://www.wired.com/politics/security/magazine/16-02/ff_stasi
As we say, Stasi "is TSA." Anagram-wise.
Many businesses have been refusing cash for years (e.g., Hertz, Amazon), and the practice has been upheld in the courts. The law about "all debts public and private" relates to the government, not to any business obligation. Several /. forums have already beaten this to death. The only reason refusal of cash is not more widespread is that credit card companies charges are so high most businesses enjoy the extra margin of a cash transaction. However, MasterCard and Visa both show that cash transaction are more costly than credit cards due to the handling costs (including 'shrinkage'). I bet that 99% of the value of all retail transactions will soon be electronic.
. . . another year to use the computer, you are out of your fucking mind!
If you believe that every system has flaws, then you might be able to see when it may fail. For example, the income tax system has always been ham handed. Those who understood it well enough could always slip between the regulations to avoid some or all of it. In the early days, about 90 years ago, most people ignored them. In the 1940s, they passed payroll withholding and started collecting from those who were employed by others.
When most of the revenues were coming from a large "middle class" the system worked because it was easier to pay the government than to pay a tax attorney to find the cracks. People who were really rich could still afford to pay tax attorneys to minimize or limit their taxes, but it was a relatively small percentage of federal income tax revenues.
But as wealth began to concentrate, an industry of bright financial and legal professionals flourished, allowing more income to be shielded from the IRS. The rich, who got richer, weighed the cost of the tax verses the cost of testing the tax avoidance in tax court and decided the best return was "playing in the gray." The IRS has no choice but to go to tax court when someone challenges them. They do not have enough people to fight every rich person or company. Often, the well-paid lawyers of the taxpayers are better versed on the law than the civil servant IRS lawyers. As the rich get richer, they influence tax laws to gain a greater advantage. Eventually you have a society of people who are either too poor to pay much tax or a few too rich to need to pay tax. That is when the tax system fails. Frankly, no tax system can succeed when the money is too closely held by a few.
The irony is that we tax productivity. Imagine a company going to its most productive people and cutting their pay as they worked harder and better. There is a better way to collect federal revenue -- http://www.forbes.com/sites/kellyphillipserb/2011/09/02/guest-post-income-tax-alternative/ .
The bitch is cold, really cold. I see rejection all over her face. Uh, what? It's a male robot?!?!? THANK GOD!!!
They never mentioned the price. HP might decide to charge a lot of money for this technology, which could make it impractical in many applications. That could effectively screw it up until the patents expire.
Babies can see further into the UV than adults, probably due to the gradual yellowing of the cornea, which usually becomes apparent in old age. Water reflects UV to varying degrees, too.
What's with all these puny hammer suggestions? Take a ten pound sledge to them and pound them flat. It is crudely effective and cathartic, too.
Home schooling has proven the marginal value of institutionalized instruction. Many schools, such as MIT, are putting their entire courseware online. The only brick-and-mortar universities that will survive are the ones who emphasize their alumni networks for getting students jobs.
Unless we are planning to stage nuclear weapons in space, the government is not really suited for the ongoing business of exploration. Such endeavor entails risks, both financial and human. The public will not tolerate it politically. Private enterprise, particularly corporate, is designed for this. A company knows how to quantify a human life and weigh it against the commercial gain. It may seem ruthless because it is ruthless. Space exploration by humans is not for the faint of heart or weak of will. Of course, in thirty years it will be obvious that machines are more capable than people and less costly in every way. Our ingenuity will obsolete our role in space.
There are two kinds of people in this world -- people who are worth suing and people who aren't. I assume that most SlashDotters fall into the latter category and flame on about it out of jealousy. They should have faith, however, that someday they will hit it big and, YES, get the shit sued out of them. Then they will know that they have arrived . . . in court.
I guess this will take care of it. Damn, we're efficient.
Hardwire them to a central consciousness and eliminate their free will, then command them to . . . do, uh, what? I don't know, that's why we hired them, isn't it? Not sure. Perhaps if we hire a consultant . . .
I love those lab glasses on her. And those gloves, OMG! She gives new meaning to 'are gone'. I got a 'D' in organic chemistry back when some fossil taught it to the tune of my snoring. If she had been my prof, I would have aced it for sure. I could just see my CdSe nanoparticles forming covalent bonds with her hydrophobic lipids.
OMG, this is one cynical crowd, and self-righteous, too. The best way to never get caught is to never do anything that you would not want to be caught doing. If that moral lesson isn't obvious, then I think I caught you. The lesson still holds. Even if you are forgiven and acquitted and saved and redeemed, you still were caught. That indelible mark is a great reason to confess once you have made the mistake of doing something that you regret. If you are caught instead of revealing yourself, you always have the doubt hanging over you that your contrition was forced and possibly insincere by being caught. If I caught some of you missing those obvious points, then I forgive you. Before you rail against me, I must confess that I thought my first message was obvious. Naive me.
Rule One of Life -- Never Get Caught
There is no appeal, no reprieve, no forgiveness, no redemption, and no hope. Once you are caught, you can never be uncaught.
This is very true. Prescription drugs have risen dramatically. Drugs that sold for $1-$3 per pill now sell for up to $30. Drug companies are milking them until they fall off patent. Hearing aids are only by prescription, which means the doctors have a oligopoly on them and charge as much as they can. Their sales pitch, "What is being able to hear worth to you?"
Just wait until you need cataract surgery or a new hip or a kidney. You might live, but you might not have anything left to live on..
I thought they erased that recording. Have you been tapping someone's phone?
I have seen many subdivision layouts that looked just like this. Has Burning Man gone the way of Desperate Housewives?
Throughout human history, it has always been easier to kill someone with a new invention than to save someone. This may be the next generation of biological weapons.
A kick in the teeth to Google+ http://www.readwriteweb.com/hack/2011/09/google-app-engine-pricing-ange.php
At least he's productive -- http://www.yourlawyer.com/articles/read/14344
I remember a movie about an alien spaceship that is forced to land in a small town and gets the populous to repair it in their sleep. They were all very productive, much more than in their day jobs. One person couldn't be used because he had a metal plate in his head. Anyone remember the name of it?
. . . performed by lawyers on behalf of their clients?
Guy walks up to a discarded iPhone on a bar.
Guy: Hey, you're new here.
iPhone: Yeah, that's right.
Guy: Could I sell you to iGadget for a million dollars?
iPhone: Oh, well, yes!
Guy: How about ten dollars.
iPhone: How dare you! What kind of iPhone do you think I am?
Guy: We already established that, now we're just talkin' price.